A PARTIAL FAILURE
"Do you notice anything peculiar about these coins?" Venner said, when
once more they were back in the comparative seclusion of the
smoking-room. "Have a good look at them."
Gurdon complied; he turned the coins over in his hand and weighed them on
his fingers. So far as he could see they were good, honest, British
coins, each well worth the twenty shillings which they were supposed to
represent.
"I don't see anything peculiar about them at all," he said. "So far as I
can judge, they appear to be genuine enough. At first I began to think
that our friend Fenwick had turned coiner. Look at this."
As he spoke Gurdon dashed the coin down upon a marble table. It rang true
and clear.
"I'd give a pound for it," he said. "The weight in itself is a good test.
No coiner yet has ever discovered a metal that will weigh like gold and
ring as true. The only strange thing about the coin is that it is in such
a wonderful state of preservation. It might have come out of the Mint
yesterday. I am afraid we shall have to abandon the idea of laying
Fenwick by the heels on the charge of making counterfeit money. I'll
swear this is genuine."
"I am of the same opinion, too," Venner said. "I have handled too much
gold in my time to be easily deceived. Still, there is something wrong
here, and I'll tell you why. Look at those two coins again, and tell me
the dates on them."
"That is very easily done. One is dated 1901 and the other is dated 1899.
I don't see that you gain anything by pointing out that fact to me. I
don't see what you are driving at."
"Well the thing is pretty clear. It would be less clear if those coins
had been worn by use and circulation. But they are both of them Mint
perfect, and they are of different dates. Do you suppose that our friend
Fenwick makes a hobby of collecting English sovereigns? Besides, the man
in the frock coat was going to do something with these coins; and, of
course, you noticed how carefully they were wrapped up in cotton wool."
"I should like to make assurance doubly sure," Gurdon said. "Let's
take these two coins to some silversmith's shop and ask if they are
all right."
It was no far journey to the nearest silversmiths, where the coins were
cut up, tested, and weighed. The assistant smiled as he handed the pieces
back to Venner.
"We will give you eighteen and sixpence each for them, sir," he said,
"which is about the intrinsic value of a sovereign; and, as you are
probably aware, sir, English gold coinage contains a certain amount of
alloy, without which it would speedily deteriorate in circulation, just
as the old guinea used to; but there is no doubt that I have just lost
you three shillings by cutting up those coins."
Venner smiled as he left the shop. As a matter of fact, he was a little
more puzzled now than he had been before. He had expected to find
something wrong with the two coins.
"We must suspend judgment for the present," he said. "Still, I feel
absolutely certain that there is some trick here, though what the
scheme is I am utterly at a loss to know. Will you come in this evening
after dinner and take your coffee and cigar with me? My wife is dining
with me, but it was an express stipulation that she should go directly
dinner is over."
At a little after seven Venner was impatiently waiting the coming of
Vera. He was not altogether sorry to notice that the dining-room was
filling up more rapidly than it had done for some days past. Perhaps, on
the whole, there would be safety in numbers. Venner had secured a little
table for two on the far side of the room, and he stood in the doorway
now, waiting somewhat restlessly and impatiently for Vera to appear. He
was not a little anxious and nervous in case something should happen at
the last moment to prevent his wife's appearance. As a rule, Venner was
not a man who was troubled much with nerves, though he became conscious
of the fact that he possessed them to-night.
Was ever a man so strangely placed as himself, he wondered? He marvelled,
too, that he could sit down so patiently without asserting his rights. He
was the possessor of ample means, and if money stood in the way he was
quite prepared to pay Fenwick his price.
On these somewhat painful meditations Vera intruded. She was simply
dressed in white, and had no ornaments beyond a few flowers. Her face was
flushed now, and there was in her eyes a look of something that
approached happiness.
"I am so glad you have come, dear," Venner said, as he pressed the girl's
hand. "I was terribly afraid that something might come in the way. If
there is any danger--"
"I don't think there is any danger," Vera whispered, "though there are
other eyes on me besides those of Mark Fenwick. But, all the same, I am
not supposed to know anybody in the hotel, and I come down to dinner as a
matter of course, I am glad the place is so crowded, Gerald, it will make
us less conspicuous. But it is just possible that I may have to go before
dinner is over. If that is so, I hope you will not be annoyed with me."
"You have given me cause for greater annoyance than that," Venner smiled.
"And I have borne it all uncomplainingly. And now let us forget the
unhappy past, and try and live for the present. We are on our honeymoon,
you understand. I wonder what people in this room would say if they heard
our amazing story."
"I have no doubt there are other stories just as sad here," Vera said, as
she took her place at the table. "But I am not going to allow myself to
be miserable to-night. We are going to forget everything; we are going to
believe that this is Fairyland, and that you are the Prince who--"
Despite her assumed gaiety there was just a little catch in Vera's voice.
If Venner noticed it he did not appear to do so. For the next hour or so
he meant resolutely to put the past out of his mind, and give himself
over to the ecstasy of the moment.... All too soon the dinner came to an
end, and Gurdon appeared.
"This is my wife," Venner said simply. "Dear, Mr. Gurdon is a very old
friend of mine, and I have practically no secrets from him. All the same,
he did not know till last night that I was married--until you came into
the room and my feelings got the better of me. But we can trust Gurdon."
"I think I am to be relied upon," Gurdon said with a smile. "You will
pardon me if I say that I never heard a stranger story than yours; and if
at any time I can be of assistance to you, I shall be sincerely happy to
do all that is in my power."
"You are very good," Vera said gratefully. "Who knows how soon I may
call upon you to fulfil your promise? But I am afraid that it will not be
quite yet."
They sat chatting there for some half an hour longer, when a waiter came
in, and advancing to their table proffered Vera a visiting card, on the
back of which a few words had been scribbled. The girl looked a little
anxious and distressed as her eyes ran over the writing on the card. Then
she rose hurriedly.
"I am afraid I shall have to go," she said. "I have been anticipating
this for some little time."
She turned to the waiter, and asked if her maid was outside, to which the
man responded that it was the maid who had brought the card, and that she
was waiting with her wraps in the corridor. Vera extended her hand to
Gurdon as she rose to go.
"I am exceedingly sorry," she said. "This has been a pleasant evening for
me: perhaps the most pleasant evening with one exception that I ever
spent in my life. Gerald will know what evening I mean."
As she finished she smiled tenderly at Venner. He had no words in reply.
Just at that moment he was filled with passionate and rebellious anger.
He dared not trust himself to speak, conscious as he was that Vera's
burden was already almost more than she could bear. She held out her hand
to him with an imploring little gesture, as if she understood exactly
what was passing in his mind.
"You will forgive me," she whispered. "I am sure you will forgive me. It
is nothing but duty which compels me to go. I would far rather stay here
and be happy."
Venner took the extended hand and pressed it tenderly. His yearning eyes
looked after the retreating figure; then, suddenly, he turned to Gurdon,
who affected to be busy over a cigar.
"I want you to do something for me," he said. "It is a strange fancy,
but I should like you to follow her. I suppose I am beginning to get
old and nervous; at any rate, I am full of silly fancies tonight. I am
possessed with the idea that my unhappy little girl is thrusting
herself into some danger. You can quite see how impossible it is for me
to dog her footsteps, but your case is different. Of course, if you
like to refuse--"
"I am not going to refuse," Gurdon said. "I can see nothing dishonorable.
I'll go at once, if you like."
Venner nodded curtly, and Gurdon rose from the table. He passed out into
the street just as the slim figure of Vera was descending the steps of
the hotel. He had no difficulty in recognising her outline, though she
was clad from head to foot now in a long, black wrap, and her fair hair
was disguised under a hood of the same material. Rather to Gurdon's
surprise, the girl had not called a cab. She was walking down the street
with a firm, determined step, as of one who knew exactly where she was
going, and meant to get there in as short a time as possible.
Gurdon followed cautiously at a distance. He was not altogether satisfied
in his own mind that his action was quite as straightforward as it might
have been. Still, he had given his promise, and he was not inclined to
back out of it now. For about a quarter of an hour he followed, until
Vera at length halted before a house somewhere in the neighborhood of
Grosvenor Square. It was a fine, large corner mansion, but so far as
Gurdon could see there was not a light in the place from parapet to
basement. He could see Vera going up the steps; he was close enough to
hear the sound of an electric bell; then a light blazed in the hall, and
the door was opened. So far as Gurdon could see, it was an old man who
opened the door; an old man with a long, grey beard, and a face lined and
scored with the ravages of time. All this happened in an instant. The
door was closed again, and the whole house left in darkness.
Gurdon paused, a little uncertain as to what to do next. He would have
liked, if possible, to be a little closer to Vera, for if there were any
dangers threatening her he would be just as powerless to help now as if
he had been in another part of the town. He walked slowly down the side
of the house, and noted that there was a line garden behind, and a small
green door leading to the lane. Acting on the impulse of the moment he
tried the door, which yielded to his touch. If he had been asked why he
did this thing he would have found it exceedingly difficult to reply.
Still, the thing was done, and Gurdon walked forward over the wide
expanse of lawn till he could make out at length a row of windows,
looking out from the back of the house. It was not so very easy to
discern all this, for the night was dark, and the back of the house
darker still. Presently a light flared out in one of the rooms, and then
Gurdon could make out the dome of a large conservatory leading from the
garden to the house.
"I shall find myself in the hands of the police, if I don't take care,"
Gurdon said to himself. "What an ass I am to embark on an adventure like
this. It isn't as if I had the slightest chance of being of any use to
the girl, seeing that I--"
He broke off, suddenly conscious of the fact that another of the rooms
was lighted now--a large one, by the side of the conservatory. In the
silence of the garden it seemed to him that he could hear voices raised
angrily, and then a cry, as if of pain, from somebody inside.
Fairly interested at last, Gurdon advanced till he was close to the
window. He could hear no more now, for the same tense silence had
fallen over the place once more. Gurdon pressed close to the window; he
felt something yield beneath his feet, and the next moment he had
plunged headlong into the darkness of something that suggested an
underground cellar. Perhaps he had been standing unconsciously on a
grating that was none too safe, for now he felt himself bruised and half
stunned, lying on his back on a cold, hard floor, amid a mass of broken
glass and rusty ironwork.
Startled and surprised as he was, the noise of the breaking glass sounded
in Gurdon's ears like the din of some earthquake. He struggled to his
feet, hoping that the gods would be kind to him, and that he could get
away before his presence there was discovered. He was still dazed and
confused; his head ached painfully, and he groped in the pitch darkness
without any prospect of escape. He could nowhere find an avenue. So far
as he could judge, he was absolutely caught like a rat in a trap.
He half smiled to himself; he was still too dazed to grasp the
significance of his position, when a light suddenly appeared overhead, at
the top of a flight of stairs, and a hoarse voice demanded to know who
was there. In the same dreamy kind of way, Gurdon was just conscious of
the fact that a strong pair of arms lifted him from the floor, and that
he was being carried up the steps. In the same dreamy fashion, he was
cognisant of light and warmth, a luxurious atmosphere, and rows upon
rows of beautiful flowers everywhere. He would, no doubt, awake
presently, and find that the whole thing was a dream. Meanwhile, there
was nothing visionary about the glass of brandy which somebody had put to
his lips, or about the hands which were brushing him down and removing
all traces of his recent adventure.
"When you feel quite up to it, sir," a quiet, respectful voice said, "my
master would like to see you. He is naturally curious enough to know what
you were doing in the garden."
"I am afraid your master must have his own way," Gurdon said grimly. "I
am feeling pretty well now, thanks to the brandy. If you will take me to
your master, I will try to explain matters."
The servant led the way into a large, handsome apartment, where a man in
evening dress was seated in a big armchair before the fire. He looked
round with a peculiar smile as Gurdon came in.
"Well, sir," he said. "And what does this mean?"
Gurdon had no voice to reply, for the man in the armchair was the
handsome cripple--the hero of the forefinger.